Dale Steyn didn’t allow Chris Gayle to score 21 runs in the Super Over as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The hosts, thus, move to the top of the table with full points from two straight wins, while Bangalore suffered their first loss of the new IPL season.

R Vinay Kumar was chosen to bowl the Super Over, after proving his wares at the death two games running, but came up short as Cameron White and Thisara Perera smacked 20 runs off six balls. White hit two sixes therein, in what proved a strong challenge even for Gayle as he came up face to face with Steyn. Virat Kohli hit a boundary and Gayle did hit a six off the penultimate ball. But the world’s greatest fast bowler currently came up tops on the day, restricting the Challengers to just 15 runs, sending Hyderabad fans into a tizzy.

Chasing 131, Sunrisers were cruising at one stage, with Vihari playing a dual role with the bat. Parthiv Patel (2) and Cameron White (5) were dismissed cheaply, but with Akshath Reddy, he put on 28 runs for the third wicket and got the chase back on track. Reddy scored 23 runs off 21 balls, with two fours. Later Vihari added 33 runs for the fourth wicket with skipper Kumar Sangakkara (16) as the chase looked set to go down the wire.

Then Jaidev Unadkat took two quick wickets to turn the game, sending back Sangakkara and Perera (7), while Amit Mishra was run out for a duck. Vinay Kumar then returned for a final spell and dismissed Ashish Reddy for 14 runs, as Vihari stayed unbeaten on 44 runs. He took 46 balls to score his runs and hit only two boundaries, perhaps a reason why Hyderabad couldn’t get home and needed the Super Over. Unadkat and Henriques took two wickets, while Muralitharan and Vinay Kumar were the other wicket-takers.

Earlier in the day, Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. But Bangalore weren’t able to score a great start with Chris Gayle (1) caught behind off Hanuman Vihari, his first ball in IPL. Ishant Sharma removed Tilakratne Dilshan (5), bowled again, and it was 42 for three in the eighth over when Karun Nair (9) got out.

Kohli stood among the mess and scored 46 off 44 balls, inclusive of five fours and one six. Yet the partnerships weren’t coming as the pitch played two-paced. He fell in the 14th over and then it fell to Moises Henriques, who came into the eleven in place of Dan Christian. He played a fine knock of 44 runs, coming off 40 balls, with five fours, as he took the score to a fighting 130 for eight in their allotted twenty overs. Ishant Sharma claimed three for 27 while Amit Mishra impressed with figures one for 15 from his four overs. Dale Steyn, Perera, Vihari and Ashish Reddy bagged a wicket each.